ablishment in a
house of their own outside the walls. After some of the fathers have
learned the Tagal language, they begin their missionary labors at
Mariveles, not far from Manila, whose native inhabitants are unusually
brutal and ferocious. A brief outline of the customs and beliefs of
these people is presented, which, although slight, is valuable as
being another original source of ethnological information about the
Filipino peoples--the early Recollect missionaries, like Chirino and
his co-laborers, having gone among wild Indians who had had little
acquaintance with the Spaniards; and their observations are therefore
of natural and primitive conditions among the natives.
The missionaries first sent to Mariveles soon die from hardship,
privation, and penances; but others at once volunteer to take
their places. Rodrigo de San Miguel is the first of these to go;
and he, with others, accomplishes a wonderful work among the fierce
Zambales. Details of the labors of each, and of marvelous escapes from
death, are related. At Masinglo a convent is founded by Andres del
Espiritu Santo, which becomes a center of missionary work for a large
district. The missionaries are kept under strict rule and discipline,
that their self-abnegation and frugal mode of life may emphasize
their preaching; and regulations are laid down for their missionary
work and their relations with the Indians. The main residence of the
Recollects is, after some years, removed within the walls of Manila;
and a handsome building is erected for it, and endowed, by a pious
citizen. Some notable images in its church are described.
Attempts being made, in both Rome and Spain, to suppress the new
order of Augustinian Recollects, various testimonies to the value of
their work, and to their piety and zeal, are furnished by various
officials, both civil and ecclesiastical; and in connection with
these is a statement of the scope and character of the occupations
and services of the Recollects, in both peace and war. Convents are
founded by these missionaries at Bolinao and Cigayan. At the latter
place, one of the fathers is slain by an Indian, and the church is
burned by the revolting natives; but the indefatigable missionaries
return to the unpromising field, again subdue the wild Indians, and
restore what these had destroyed. Another residence is established at
Cavite, which accomplishes great good among the seamen who live there.
The history of the discalc
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